A scandal has erupted in India after the authorities blocked 129 websites on the basis of forged court orders. On 14 November 2026, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office summoned Amit Agrawal, Secretary of the Ministry of Telecommunications, to provide an explanation. According to Reuters, citing two government officials, the official was forced to cut short his working trip. The reason was an investigation by the agency, which found that government bodies had ordered internet service providers to restrict access to online betting websites, relying on documents that had never been issued by the courts.
- In India, 129 online betting websites have been blocked on the basis of two forged court rulings.
- The fraudsters posed as lawyers and sent forged documents to the Ministry of Telecommunications.
- On 14 November, Narendra Modi’s office summoned Amit Agrawal, the head of the telecommunications department.
- The Ministry has launched an internal investigation, whilst the police are looking into possible document forgery and fraud.
- The incident revealed vulnerabilities in the website blocking system, which could potentially pose a threat to legitimate online resources as well.
How forged court rulings led to the blocking of 129 websites
According to a Reuters investigation, the Indian Department of Telecommunications issued two orders to block websites — on 21 July and 2 September 2026.
The basis for this was a series of emails containing documents purportedly issued by the High Courts of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. In reality, neither of these courts had handed down any such rulings.
The first forged document led to the blocking of 34 online betting websites. The second concerned a further 95 websites.
Fraudsters They made the documents appear to be official court rulings. They used forged logos, stamps, signatures and QR codes, and the emails were sent by individuals who claimed to be lawyers.
Officials from the telecommunications authority issued an order to internet service providers to restrict access to certain websites, without having found any evidence of fraud.
How Reuters exposed a scheme involving forged documents
Reuters journalists examined the court documents cited by the telecommunications regulator and contacted the relevant courts.
In Rajasthan, court officials stated that the decision in question does not appear in the official register.
The Allahabad High Court also confirmed that the document was a forgery. An investigation revealed that the case referred to by the authors of the document had never been registered.
On 6 November, the court referred the matter to the police. The police launched a criminal investigation into allegations of document forgery and fraud.
The individuals involved in producing the forged documents have not yet been identified. Nor is there any evidence that artificial intelligence was used in the forgery of the documents.
Why did Narendra Modi’s office intervene in the situation?
On 14 November, the Prime Minister’s Office in India summoned the Secretary of the Ministry of Telecommunications Amitah Agrawal to explain the circumstances surrounding the blocking of websites.
Two government officials familiar with the situation told Reuters this. According to them, Agraval cut short his trip to another state.
The Department of Telecommunications has launched an internal investigation to establish why officials failed to verify the authenticity of court documents before issuing the orders.
The police have also requested documents and official correspondence from the ministry for the purposes of a criminal investigation.
Agraval, his department and Modi’s office did not respond to requests for comment from Reuters. Consequently, the report that the official had been summoned is currently based on information from the agency’s sources, rather than on a public statement by the Prime Minister.
What lies ahead for India’s website blocking system?
The Reuters exposé drew attention to the shortcomings of the government procedure blocking of internet resources.
Although this case concerns online betting sites, the operation of which is prohibited under Indian law, forged court documents could potentially be used against legitimate websites as well.
Furthermore, journalists discovered that the forged decisions had remained available on the official website of the Department of Telecommunications for several months.
At the time of Reuters’ check on 14 November, one of the documents was still available for viewing, whilst the other had already been removed.
As of 14 November 2026, the administrative and criminal investigations are ongoing. The Indian authorities are reviewing the decision-making process for blocking websites and identifying those responsible for producing the forged documents. No announcement has yet been made regarding the lifting of all 129 blocks.
